Classic Speaker Thread

**mikeb** · **02-04-07, 10:21 AM**

What genuine classic speakers does everyone have sitting around or still using? I am sure other members have more classic speakers but mine are a pair of Polk LS90's from the early to mid 90's. http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/products/ls90/ I do have a friend that hs a pair of JBL Centurys that he purchased new in the 70's and still uses them daily in his two channel setup.

Mike

**jackfish** · **02-04-07, 09:36 PM**

I have five pairs of New Large Advents, including a pair of utilities I bought in 1980.

**mikeb** · **02-05-07, 06:44 AM**

Wow Jay

that is awesome. I had a friend that had a pair in the seventies that we party'd to almost nightly. One of the all time classics.

http://www.epinions.com/content_276686212740#

**garcianc2003** · **02-05-07, 07:31 AM**

I have been using a pair of Polk Audio RTA-12Cs since 1986 driven by a CARVER m1.5t amp that I got the same year.

**mikeb** · **02-05-07, 07:50 AM**

YES! another Polkie

Great Speakers and a very nice setup garcianc2003. Can't beat the service you have gotten out of the Carver also.

**brucek** · **02-05-07, 10:08 PM**

Back in 1974 I bought a set of JBL L-36's that I'm still using today on my second system as mains.

When I bought them they cost ~$500, which was a lot of money at the time.

Shoot, they're only about 32 years old, hardly broken in.

Over the years I had the woofer drivers reconed because of foam rot.
I also had to replace the tweeters after one burnt out.
I replaced them with a fairly nice set of Vifas that matched fairly well.

I replace all the capacitors in the crossovers when they started to leak.
I also changed the internal wiring and soldered all the driver connectors which were using tabs.
I also replaced the poor push-pin connectors on the rear with some nice banana type binding posts.

They still sound good to me.....

Here's a couple pictures of them. One with the grills on and one with the grills off. Note that the crossovers are adjustable from the front panel.

JBL-L36.jpg

JBL-L36 front.jpg

brucek

**regnad** · **02-05-07, 10:17 PM**

im running a pair of Advent Heritage towers in the front and a pair of Laureattes<--?? in the back...looking for another pair to build the center and sides! As far as 2 channel goes, im running a pair of Sony ss-tl4 transmision line towers, anyone with info on these PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
regnad

**higherfi2** · **05-25-07, 02:34 PM**

That really takes me back to the days when 12" was a small woofer! Cool
http://www.hometheaterinsider.net

**knasty** · **05-26-07, 03:33 PM**

Still using a pair of Altec Lansing A7-500W Voice of the Theater.

**nova** · **05-28-07, 06:46 PM**

I have a pr. of Bose 601's that I bought in the early 80's. I loaned them to a friend about 10 years ago,....not sure if they still work or not. All my other old stuff is long gone. Everything else I have is only 3 - 5 yrs old.

**Ricci** · **06-01-07, 07:23 PM**

I'm using 2 pairs of Klipsch Epic CF-4's and a KV-4 center for my theater.They're all circa 1995. I just picked up the 2nd pair for $550:holycow: from a high end audio retailer after someone traded them in on RF-83's. Drove 2.5hrs to get them after work on a Wed. Only thing wrong with them was 2 light scratches on 1 cabinet.Got the KV-4 off of Ebay for $200 delivered.

I think that some of these "outdated" old speakers are some of the best.

My Gran"pappy used to have the voice of the theater Altec's. Unfortunately he got rid of them

.

**nitrox1** · **06-02-07, 11:03 AM**

I have a pair of old advent large loudspeakers with the rounded front, a pair of 80's ego loudspeakers and a pair of yamaha ns-15. I'm going to re foam the advents and use them as rear's in my set up

**tc-60guy** · **06-06-07, 07:31 AM**

greetings, I have an old pair of EPI TE-100s with crumbled surrounds sitting around. I may put them back in service via Human Speakers replacement drivers.

**treese** · **06-07-07, 11:45 AM**

I have a pair of Infinity kappa 9's. They sound great but prefer a lot of power to drive decently.

**rcarlton** · **06-07-07, 08:25 PM**

I am running Klipsch K-horns with LaScala's in the rear. Upstairs I have Cornwall I's. Not being used right now are some Bubinga Heresy I's and II's.

**goatfarm** · **06-08-07, 07:50 PM**

I'm still using a pair of Large Advents, walnut veneer, beveled front, that I bought new at Pacific Stereo in San Francisco in 1972. I had to replace one tweeter in 1977 thanks to a big Sansui receiver, and I've refoamed the woofers twice. Probably need re-capped now, but they still sound really nice. Also a pair of EPI 100s and a pair of AR-7s.

Greg

**WERA689** · **06-11-07, 11:19 PM**

I'm a huge fan of ADS speakers. Current inventory includes L1290's as my main theater spkrs, L780/2's as my rear channels, L570 as my center channel. I also use a pair of L500's in my workshop system, and have a pair of early L810's currently sitting idle. I still thing ADS had some of the best sounding, least fatiguing speakers I know, and I think that they serve more types of music than many others....i.e. they're not [i]rock[i] speakers, nor jazz speakers, nor classcal speakers, but they serve all those genres very favorably.

**trekguy** · **07-22-07, 07:03 PM**

ADS--- L 1290/2 mains, HT 400 center, L400 surrounds or sometimes L1290/2 mains, HT 400 center , L 1290/s side surrounds and L 690 rear surrounds. I really like the sound of the full range towers for surrounds, but it doesn't really fit the room layout.

The 1290s are 3 way towers with a pair of 8" woofers, a 2" dome mid and a 3/4" dome tweeter-flat from 45 Hz to beyond 25 k Hz (if that last has any meaning with CDs and DVDs and my 15+ k HZ ears).
The L400s are small two sealed two ways with a 1" dome tweeter. The HT 400 is a m-t-m layout with 5.25" mids and a 1" dome tweeter. It is a later model tweeter (not fabric) and does not have quite the same voicing as the other models. The 690 is a small tower with a look as the 1290 but with smaller steel basket woofers, no mid, and a 1" tweeter.

JBL 100s (Century), with all of the foam long ago rotted out of the grills, in the living room for two channel.

The only "modern" speaker is my Rythmik 12 sealed servo sub.

**audiomaster** · **08-17-07, 12:53 AM**

I have a pair of JBL 4312s, a pair of JBL 4313s and a pair of Dynaco A25s! Is that "retro" enough? Sorry, but I had to sell the pair of Altec 604e when I got married as there was not room for them (12 cu ft cabinets) and the wife! I do miss playing the 1812 overature on them on New years Eve for the neighbors though!

**bac4822** · **08-17-07, 01:08 AM**

Bought a pair of walnut New Large Advents in 1979, sold them to a friend in 1990 and bought them back from him a couple years ago. Had woofers refoamed and they're still going strong as front speakers in a surround system. Friend threw in a pair of Baby Advents I'm using as the rear surrounds.

**bobgpsr** · **08-17-07, 08:10 AM**

I'm using a pair of 3 way rear ported Wharfedale 312's that date from around 1984 downstairs. Sized at 14½" x 11¾" x 31". Butyl rubber for the surrounds of the 12" woofer and 8" midrange has held up very well over the years. I (well my son) did blow a tweeter in one so I had to replace them. This was not easy since the speaker overall is rated at around 97 dB SPL efficiency and 120 dB SPL max. I ended up using some small phenolic diaphram Eminence APT-50 horns which work well with my old ears.

**Exocer** · **08-19-07, 02:32 PM**

Heres my pair of Technics 4-way towers

They're way way older than I (I am 22), but boy do they provide tons of output! Rated at around 93-94db/watt/meter with output down to around 40hz.

**gsmollin** · **09-01-07, 08:44 PM**

I have a pair of Advent loudspeakers from 1972, there only was one size then. I had to replace the red dome tweeters with black dome tweeters around 1984. The woofers have been re-surrounded a couple of times. They still sound great.

**conchyjoe7** · **09-04-07, 03:40 PM**

My current speakers for my front mains are quite old: Aerial Acoustics 10Ts. However, I've had the good fortune to own some really good classic speakers in the past. A pair of Vandersteen 2ci's which are probably still (in their new iteration) best bang for the buck. I owned a pair of Dahlquist DQ10s with subs and electronic external crossovers. I've owned DCM Time Windows that were also amazing (tranmission line loaded bass). Another pair I had the good fortune to own and love were KEF 104.2s...incredible at the time. I've also owned a pair of Mirage M3si's that were great! I also had and loved a pair of old Quad ESL63s that were unlike anything in terms of reality that I've owned before or since...having said that: My current Aerials are extremely hard to beat as an overall speaker and were Stereophile's co-speaker of the year in 1996. Michael Kelly's newer design, the Aerial 20T (>25k a pair), was Stereophile's 2004 speaker of the year. Think I've owned too many speakers?! I dunno; maybe! Next, I want a pair of Wilson Watt Puppies...then I'll be done!
Cheers...
Konky.

**DynacoMark** · **10-22-07, 08:41 PM**

MY old system is a Dynaco AF6 tuner which I built as a kit in 1971. A Hafler 101 pre amp a PS-1 amp and a pair of Qysonic arrays I got in 1978. The speakers are still good today. They did not use foam surrounds.

I recently set up my second system. JBL 36'd and yes reconed. Hafler IRIS tuner and Preamp, Dynaco 400 amp. Then on the side a Trivista tube DAC for digital music. The JBL's are bright at the top and in a 10 by 10 room the bass at 200 HZ is quite peaked. Don't really need all the power of the Dynaco since the JBL's seem pretty efficient. At 5 Watts per channel I get 95 db. Also have a Dynaco PAS 3X stock a modified one and a Dynaco 120.

Yes my login is
Dynaco Mark

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